THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH
Sta,—Mr. Nicolson is surprised that an American audience should query the statement of a British lecturer that Australia was com- pletely independent. The only way that a British lecturer can demon- strate to an American audience that the Dominions (or members of the British Commonwealth of Nations) are independent is to show that the City does not wield financial control over them. The mere political status of the Dominions is understood by most Ameri- cans to be of comparatively little consequence in the retention of the Empire by England. When an American takes a walk through the City he sees on every hand signs in windows reading " British Bank of —," the space filled in by a name not only of almost any part of every Dominion, but of nearly any Colony. If the controlling capital in these banks does not come from the City, a British lecturer in America would do well to explain its source. It has recently been stated that England draws from India, in interest alone, £5o,000,000 annually. If this is not aue, a British lecturer .n America might well refute it.—Yours faithfully, WILLIARD CONNELY. American University Union, i Gordon Square, London, W.C. 1.
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